A Horwich man thought to be the first in the country to be sent to prison following widespread disorder has already been released from prison – despite being sentenced to two months in jail. James Nelson, aged 18, was jailed after pleading guilty to smashing two police cars while wearing a pink balaclava in Bolton’s Morrisons car park on Sunday, August 4, as demonstrators clashed in the town centre. Nationwide, dozens of towns and cities saw outbreaks of violence following the killing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on Monday, July 29.
Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox. At a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, August 6, prosecutor John Potter described how police officers returned to their Ford Focus and Peugeot vehicles parked at Morrisons on Black Horse Street to find ‘significant’ windscreen damage, side windows smashed, and a wing mirror knocked off. Nelson, of Victoria Road, Horwich, was sentenced to two months imprisonment and ordered to pay £4,999 in compensation.
The incident occured in the Morrisons car park Follow The Bolton News on Facebook , Instagram , X (Twitter) , and TikTok . Now, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed that Nelson has already been released from prison. Nelson was released after completing 50 per cent of his sentence, or just one month.
Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, those sentenced for most types of offences are eligible to b.